A system (e.g., web server system, database system, storage server system, application server system, and so forth) is made up of various components, including hardware components and software components. Systems can be complex, with many inter-related components.
Depending on requirements (including user requirements, requirements specified by operators or administrators, and technical capabilities of components), there may be various possible design configurations of the various components, including hardware and software components, for a system. For example, a configuration of a particular system can be made up of several servers, software applications, and storage devices.
Of the many possible configurations for a particular system, some of the configurations may be invalid configurations. An invalid configuration refers to a combination of components that does not achieve target requirements. As systems have become more complex, creating or maintaining valid configurations has become more difficult. Maintaining a valid system configuration is a recurring task that depends on requirements that may change over time. As requirements change, a previously identified design configuration for the system may no longer be valid. Existing tools typically do not provide for efficient creation and/or maintenance of valid configurations of systems.